☣ background/canon timeline
[ Note: Most of his BG is novel based, but the anime covers volumes 1-3. There are very few discrepancies between the two mediums, though the anime changed the timeline slightly to better fit its medium. Regardless, I'll be sticking to mostly the novel events and information since he is coming out from the novels rather than the anime. Since volumes 2 and 3 haven't been translated yet (because of the anime covering it), I'll be drawing some details there. I'll make distinctions and notes where the novels and the anime differ, but it really won't affect it all that much.
ALSO: Durarara!! basically runs off the concept of synchronicity. All of the events that occur will at some point or another affect the others in the main cast, Shizuo included. So while I focus on the events involving Shizuo, I also make brief allusions/summaries to any of those plots. ]
SPOILERS INSIDE: READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.
PRE-HISTORY
Despite what people may initially assume, Shizuo grew up in a warm, well-loving and caring family living in Ikebukuro, Japan. He had a mother, a father, and a younger brother, Kasuka, whom he cares for and who also cares for him. They were your typical nice family. However, it was also because of his brother that Shizuo became the highly short-tempered, anger-filled, dangerous, and extremely powerful man he is today.
Everything started when he was nine years old. He had had a minor quarrel with his brother, but in a fit of rage, he tried to lift up a full-sized refrigerator to throw at him. Of course, this didn't happen. Instead, he suffered multiple dislocations and extensive muscle damage. One would think a child would learn his lesson and never attempt to perform such actions gain, but the problem was Shizuo couldn't control his temper. Once the fuse was ignited, it was hard for him to restrain himself. Another incident of such escalated violence occurred during school when he threw a desk full of books at another student. This was the result of another student picking a fight with him and had thrown compasses at him. Fortunately the boy survived with just a scraped wrist. The desk had flown past him and had embedded itself into the wall behind him.
He was still nine.
So how was he able to do this? It all stems back to the muscle damage he suffered from the attempted refrigerator throw. There is a natural mental limiter that the body places on the human muscle so that they aren't overused and risk damage. Usually during times of extreme crisis, however, these limiters are released. This allows for the body to perform miraculous and superhuman feats. Because of the muscle damage, however, the limiters no longer exist for Shizuo. He doesn't need to be in an extreme situation to use the full potential of his muscles.
The downside, however, is that without these limitations, he has no control over his strength when he fully taps into it. This causes his muscles to deteriorate further and strain his own heart. This is made worse by his temper. He couldn't control his own anger, and in turn the power became his anger that would continue to grow. He soon developed a mindset that he had to destroy anything that pissed him off, that it was just natural. So he started to go down this spiral where he no longer placed any self-restraints and allowed the self-destruction. As time would go on, however, he would try and restrain himself somewhat. Particularly after a certain incident involving him losing control while trying to help a woman who had given both him and Kasuka some milk. Not only did he accidentally get her hurt in the fray, he also caused her trouble. Since then, he drank milk (which would help his bones) and it served as a reminder for him, a tactic Kasuka used when they were still living together at home.
He attended the same middle school and high school (Raijin Academy) as Orihaya Izaya, Kishitani Shinra, and Kadota Kyouhei. Shinra would follow Shizuo around like a puppy, thinking his extraordinary superhuman strength was amazing and wanting to learn more. He was also the reason how Shizuo first met Celty, the Headless Rider.
It was during this time he first met Tom and acquired his "delinquent" look. In short, Tom had stumbled upon Shizuo when he was still in the middle school. Gangs were still picking fights with him, and Tom came in just in time to catch the tail end of a particular fight. After convincing Shizuo to help bring the fallen to the hospital, Tom treated Shizuo to a meal. It was there that he suggested Shizuo should portray himself like a delinquent so as to lower the number of people who would come after him. This included the hair dying, but Shizuo refused, saying he could change the hair color his parents gave him. From then, Tom continued to give Shizuo some advice to help him not get picked on by gangs so much.
A month or so later, Shizuo was napping on top of the school building when he overheard a conversation between Tom and some of the upperclassmen. They were essentially trying to get Tom make Shizuo like their own dog, but true to his nature, Tom refused. After he left, the students started to make threats to take Tom hostage to make Shizuo join their side. Unfortunately, they didn't know Shizuo was listening in until they heard a strange hissing sound behind him. Shizuo had detached one of the water tanks and after yelling at them, kicked it down at them.
A few months after that, that same group targeted Tom. Shizuo arrived on the scene just as Tom finished beating them up, though he was rather injured himself. When Shizuo asked him why he didn't just use him like the others wanted, Tom just said that Shizuo had said himself he didn't like violence and that it would be better if he didn't fight. After that, Shizuo started to dye his hair and after the rumors spread, he had a peaceful period in his life as not as many people came to pick fights with him.
But of all the people he had met during his school years, it was Izaya who would have the most impact on his life. He was the one who ruin his peaceful life. While Shizuo would not start any fights or conflicts, he usually found himself caught up in them. This was usually Izaya's fault. Upon first seeing Izaya's face, Shizuo immediately disliked him, and the two would have constant fights and chases. Mostly chases as Izaya tended to just run away laughing. At some point in high school, Izaya had started to gather "worshipers" for his own purposes. These were usually girls, and soon there was a conflict between the various Izaya fans from other Ikebukuro high schools. Despite not wanting to have anything to do with the conflicts, Shizuo got dragged into the very center of it and rose to local fame because of it. Gangs and bullies would continually try to fight him, only to be defeated with explosive results. He would later become known as a contender, if not the person, to be the strongest fighter in Ikebukuro.
These years were known as the "Izaya and Shizuo" years, and Raijin Academy's reputation deteriorated until it would later merge with another school to become Raira Academy years later.
Of course, this would not be the end of Izaya and Shizuo. When Izaya became wanted by the Ikebukuro police, he framed Shizuo for co-commiting the crime. When the police attempted to arrest Shizuo, he threw a vending machine at the police car. He was later cleared of all charges after investigations.
He was under eighteen.
After that, he chased after Izaya with only one intent in mind: to kill him. He learned parkour just so he could catch Izaya, as the young man had also learned parkour to escape Shizuo. Whenever Shizuo even caught a glimpse of Izaya's face, he would grab the nearest large object and hurl it at him before running after him.
At one point, Shizuo was also scouted to be a model. He had the looks for it, however he had no inclination of becoming one. In fact, he almost killed the talent scout, but his brother, Kasuka, saved the poor, unfortunate fellow. This actually landed Kasuka a spot in the modeling business, and he would later become an actor.
Shizuo was also the reason why one of the colored gangs, the Blue Squares, disintegrated. They picked a fight with him and effectively lost. He would later join the Dollars group, a growing "colorless" gang that was rising through Ikebukuro, through an invitation by Simon.
He did attempt to a hold a job, but they normally didn't last long mostly due to his temper. Before his current job, he was a bartender. Even though Kasuka gave him twenty bartender suits in hopes he would actually keep it, Shizuo was framed by Izaya yet again, and it cost him his job. Currently he works under Tanaka Tom as a debt collector for dating sites. More specifically, as a bodyguard. Unlike his previous bosses, Tom actually knows how to handle Shizuo and Tom also had been an upperclassman, so the two at least knew each other. Tom also didn't "mind" Shizuo beating up the clients, just so long he didn't kill them. It was costly, though, and the business somehow put up with Shizuo's destructive tendencies. (Probably because despite destroying everything, he would also be able to get the money out of them)
VOLUMES 1-3 / ANIME [time zero]
Shizuo's first major appearance in the current canon timeline was a run-in with Izaya. Izaya was talking to Ryuugamine Mikado, Kida Masaomi, and Sonohara Anri. When he saw Izaya, he threw a trashcan at him, nailing him in the head. At this point in time, a gang who claimed themselves to part of the Dollars had gathered around because they wanted to get back at Izaya for a prior incident. One of them had the misfortune to attack Shizuo even though he knew who Shizuo was. Shizuo beat them up, and as Izaya tried to escape, attempted to hurl a vending machine at him. But then Simon dropped in to intervene and stop them (when I say "dropped in", I mean that literally. Simon just appeared out of nowhere from a nearby building several stories up). Though Izaya was able to get away, Shizuo beat up Simon before finally leaving.
Other than his brother, there are only a few people who are "close" to him, and the Headless Rider, Celty Sturluson, is probably the one he's closest to. She is also one of the few he considers important. Even if she didn't have a head, she could still communicate through written means, or her PDA in the modern times. But even so, she would always listen to whatever he had to say and would not make unnecessary comments or take what he said as more than what they were supposed to mean. He knew everyone was afraid of him, but Celty wasn't. So he enjoyed talking with her whenever the chance arose. He knew who she was (but not that she's a Dullahan; all he knows is that she's the Headless Rider), but he didn't particularly care.
Because of this close affinity to her, he was always more than willing to help her. When she came to him asking if he knew a street artist who supposedly had drawn pictures of a Dullahan, he not only told her where the artist was, but also offered to come along and help, saying it would be easier than her just trying to communicate with the PDA all the time.
Another time he helps her out is when they see a girl with what Celty identified as her head. Of course, Shizuo had no idea the truth about Celty's reaction to chase her, but he follows and helps out anyway. When Seiji appears and stabs him with pens, he holds the guy back, telling Celty to leave everything to him and chase the girl. Though he has no idea what's going on, he knows Celty is interested in that person, and that's all that mattered. He let Seiji off pretty lightly, knocking him out with a headbutt.
Shizuo also showed up at the giant Dollar's "meeting", confirming that he was indeed part of the Dollars, and witnessed Celty's crazy ride down a building. Again, he doesn't know that she's a Dullahan.
By this time, the "Slashers" and events with Saika were becoming more prominent in Ikebukuro, and he became a central figure in the plot. He would feel as if someone was watching him, but whenever he turned around to look in the direction, whatever it was disappears. When Celty told him that she had been attacked by one before, he immediately decided to kill the Slasher and even hopped on Celty's bike, telling her to go so he can do exactly as he said. Fortunately, Celty talked him out of it since he was still on working time, so he resigned to her wishes. That didn't mean he wasn't still mad about the whole affair.
Some time later, Shizuo was with Celty, again wanting to kill the Slasher, when the two saw some members of the Yellow Scarves staring at them. Already in a "not good" mood, Shizuo walked over and promptly beat them up for staring at them. Afterward, while riding around through the streets, Celty heard a commotion and promptly turned to where Anri and the van gang (Kadota and the others) were. Niekawa Shuuji, a reporter who had tried to (and got thrown for) interviewing Shizuo had been possessed by the demon blade Saika and was trying to stab her. Though the van gang had hit him with the van, he still managed to get up and made for a round two. Celty landed a hit with her motorcycle, but it wasn't until Shizuo ripped off Togusa's van door and slammed it into Shuuji that it was over.
After that, Shizuo went to Izaya's apartment to call him out to "play". And by play, he meant "Let me smash your face into the wall and kill you, you flea" play. As the two were about to fight, handguard rail poised and ready, Celty arrived to show Shizuo the chatroom where someone under the username "Saika" kept asking for Shizuo. She then took him to South Ikebukuro Park, where the two found themselves surrounded by over a hundred "children" of Saika. They were people who were being controlled by the demon blade Saika and all were proclaiming their "love" for Shizuo, the one who was determined to the strongest man alive. And to show their love, they wanted to stab him.
So after that lovely confession, Shizuo proceeded to beat the crap out of everyone. Miraculously, no one died, and he actually managed to stop himself in time from continued the pummeling once the Saika's "hold" over the people was released. He could never control his strength, so being able to stop in time was important to himself.
Now for a prime example of synchronicity. All is fine for a day or so, but at some point during the later afternoon-early evening, Anri was being chased by the Yellow Scarves, and the Dollars were just flying all over the place helping her. She eventually wound up in a park, and was confronted by a group led by Horada, a person of brief "significance". Upon noticing her well-endowed chest, Horada got a nosebleed. At that very moment, Shizuo was passing by, yelling at his cellphone because of all the notifications from the Dollars members. So when he turned and saw Horada staring at him with that face, it was no surprise that Horada was sent flying and the rest scattered. Shizuo was the endnote for the slew of convoluted events of the day, a pattern that tends to recur throughout the series. Celty, as well as the van gang, showed up just in time for the show, and once the deed was done, Shizuo left, saying he was turning off his cellphone for the rest of the night.
However, later that night, Horada confronted him and actually shot him in the leg and abdomen. There is some slight difference in the details of the events in the anime. There, Shizuo is by himself, but in the novel, Tom is with him. Either way, Horada left while saying that someone named "Kida Masaomi" was the one who ordered Shizuo to be shot. Apparently Shizuo didn't even realize he had been shot. He thought he had tripped and fallen, so by the time he came to again, they were gone. Again, some discrepancies between anime and novel: in the novel, Tom tells Shizuo to go to a doctor, but in the anime, since Tom isn't there, Shizuo goes on his own.
So Shizuo went to Shinra's to be treated. As always, unlike normal people who would be unconscious during the whole procedure, Shizuo stayed conscious and grumbled about the whole situation. At some point Anri had arrived, though he didn't remember who she was. But when she heard him talking about killing Kida Masaomi, she took off right after Shizuo left.
And then Shizuo once again pulled off the finale stunt for a rather large, crazy event. There was a lot of crap going on between the Dollars and the Yellow Turbans, with Horada being the one to help instigate the whole thing. But anyway, after the fight and them losing, Horada and his crew fled the scene. To their horror, waiting on the highway with an uprooted highway street exit sign was the one and only Heiwajima Shizuo. He promptly sliced the roof of the car off as they flew past, and they were taken in by the traffic cop, Kinnosuke.
One would assume things would settle down, and for a year it was relatively quiet. But of course, this would not last.
VOLUME 4. [approximately a year later, or at least several months]
After the novel introduction about the "Killing Machine" (Russian assassin) and "Hollywood", a "rising" serial killer, the scene opens up with the two fighters facing each other off. In this very scene, Tom and Shizuo were actually eating on a nearby bench when the "Killing Machine" and "Hollywood" started to fight nearby. The duo didn't really pay much attention to them.
Until the assassin took Tom's attaché case.
Shizuo promptly ripped up the very park bench the duo had been sitting on and slammed it into BOTH "Hollywood" and the "Killing Machine". "Hollywood" was sent flying out of the park (literally) and the "Killing Machine" was slammed to the ground. Fortunately, Tom stopped him from delivering the final blow to the "Killing Machine", and after a short exchange, Shizuo calmly jogged out to see if the nearby supermarket had any attaché cases.
So two lessons the two killers learned that night: robbing is no-no and don't mess with the strange man in a bartender suit.
Shizuo had purchased a new attaché case for Tom, and the two were continuing on their way when one of Izaya’s twin sisters, Mairu, literally jumped on his back in greeting. Much to Tom’s surprise, Shizuo just gently pulled her off his back, holding her up by the nape of her collar. They were asking for directions to the Russian sushi bar for, ironically, the very man Shizuo had just beaten up: the "Killing Machine". Prior to meeting Shizuo, the twins happened upon the man. However, since the twins never said why they were going there, Shizuo had no idea and carefully gave them the directions. During this time, the topic of his brother came up, and the scene ended with Shizuo thinking that a call from him once in a while wouldn’t be bad.
Incidentally, Shizuo is the reason why Kasuka meets "Hollywood." Remember when he slammed that park bench and sent the killer flying? She landed on the very road Kasuka was driving on (ironically, in some attempt to see if he could find his brother). Just yet another prime example of synchronicity.
This may not seem important to note, but it actually will make sense in the Volume 5 section. There are a lot of various circumstances that can't all be explained here, but that following night, the majority of the Durarara!! cast were entangled in the most ridiculous motorcycle/car chase that involved a few different gangs and the traffic police. Tom and Shizuo were not part of the actual chase, but some members of the involved gangs later came up to the duo and actually tried to hit Tom. Though Tom managed to dodge the attack, the pipe tore the sleeve of Shizuo's bartender suit. So in a fit of anger because those clothes are the most precious gifts his brother ever gave him, Shizuo literally sent them flying in return.
VOLUME 5 [one month later]
At a hamburger stand, Tom witnessed the commotion brought up by a new character: Rokujou Chikage. He told Shizuo he should be careful because Chikage was the leader of the Toramaru motorbike gang and is probably out to avenge his guys. But to Tom's surprise, Shizuo had actually already met the young man the previous night.
Chikage had come up to Shizuo, basically challenging him to a fight to see how strong he was. Shizuo didn't fly off the handle because Chikage had been direct and straightforward about it. While Shizuo was talking and was about tell him something, Chikage had already taken the opportunity and delivered a near impossible hard kick to Shizuo's face, followed by a punch. However, much to his surprise, all it did was move Shizuo's face a fraction of an inch. He probably didn't even feel much of it, if at all.
What Shizuo was trying to tell Chikage was all he wanted was to spend the rest of his days in peace. So without further ado, and bidding the man "Good night" (in a way), Shizuo just punched Chikage square in the face. He told Tom it took four punches before Chikage was actually knocked out. Here Shizuo briefly referenced someone else who was just as strong, and in all likelihood it was Nile from Baccano!. Afterward, he took Chikage to Shinra.
While the two were talking about Shizuo's love life -- or rather, the lack of one and Tom trying to encourage him to try and find a girlfriend -- Tom noticed a little girl staring at them through the window. More specifically, at Shizuo. Even more specifically, her whole face was pressed up against it.
Wondering who she was and what she wanted, Shizuo walked outside. Immediately the girl started to run toward him, which only made the man even more confused. He was starting to get a bad feeling about the girl, and was proven right when she suddenly yelled "Die!" and jabbed a stun gun right into Shizuo's abdomen. While this would send any normal person to the ground, or possibly killed as apparently it was modified to increase the strength, all it did was just send the electric shocks through Shizuo's body and make him feel pain. He did feel it, and it hurt, but other than that he was fine enough to push her away.
While the girl was crouching on the ground, Shizuo had picked up the stun gun, wondering what it was at first. Unfortunately, this made one hell of a misunderstanding scene, so under Tom's orders, they bolted. But at some point along the way, the girl had managed to latch onto Shizuo's back.
After some quick deliberation, Shizuo took both the girl and Tom to Shinra's to hide, much to the doctor's displeasure. She ended up having a fever, and the trio talked while she slept. Or rather, Shinra prattled along trying to figure out who the girl was and why she wanted Shizuo dead.
The next morning, after Celty had brought Anri to the apartment due to unrelated events that would later become related, the girl woke up. When Shizuo entered the room, she immediately went to the corner and asked if she was going to be killed, too. After a comment from Shinra, Shizuo asked him if he would like to be the first kill on his record, suggesting that while Shizuo had been in countless fights and had sent most if not all of his opponents to the hospital, he had never killed anyone.
Shinra managed to coax (though somewhat sickeningly in Shizuo's opinion) some information about the girl. Though she didn't tell them her last name, they learned her first name was Akane. In truth, she was Akane Awakusu, granddaughter of the leader a large mob organization called the Awakusu-kai. But no one knew of this yet. When asked why she wanted to attack Shizuo, Akane answered it was because someone told her that Shizuo was an assassin who was going to kill her father and grandfather.
Already the room became tense as Shizuo was going through his silent "getting mad" process. Both he and Shinra had an idea of who that "someone" was, and it was confirmed after Akane responded to the question: "Izaya onii-chan."
Orihara Izaya.
When Shinra turned around to see Shizuo's reaction, he was stunned in disbelief. For lo, Shizuo's expression wasn't one of a demon about to destroy a city, but one with a very soft, smile. Shizuo told Akane that "Izaya-kun" was mistaken and that they were "friends". They just had a little fight and told her to wait there while he made up with him.
So after a wink and whistling, he left the apartment with Shizuo, leaving Shinra speechless. Tom commented on Shizuo's acting skills, to which Shizuo replied that he was going to be gone for a few days to kill Izaya.
However, after reaching Izaya's apartment, he was only greeted by a "WE'VE MOVED" sign. This of course sent Shizuo over the edge and back again, but he managed to not kick down the door and instead left. Unfortunately, this had been a ruse set up by Namie. It was Izaya's apartment, and they were still there. But Shizuo was unaware of the simple trick, so Izaya was able to live for yet another day.
So he went to the address listed on the sign. However, instead of finding Izaya, he found three corpses sprawled about the office. He was still wondering what was going on when a young man confronted him for trying to break in. But when he saw the sight, he automatically assumed Shizuo was the culprit. In the ten seconds that it took for the guy to make a phone call, Shizuo had exited the building stage window. Yes, he used the window as a means of departure. He had no idea that the building and office he had stumbled into what was the office of the Awakusu-kai. That's right, the very same organization that Akane's grandfather led.
VOLUME 6 [same day]
So the whole gang tried to get back at him, still believing Shizuo had killed the three men. Shizuo didn't really want to fight so he just used his parkour skills and climbed up a skyscraper and chilled there for a while.
He would be stuck up there for some time before some other events would send him back down, but before all that happens, he took a nap and woke up in Somarium instead.
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ANYTHING AFTER THIS POINT IS AFTER HIS CURRENT CANON POINT. I'm only noting it in here for my own personal reference should I canon update him xD
ALSO: Durarara!! basically runs off the concept of synchronicity. All of the events that occur will at some point or another affect the others in the main cast, Shizuo included. So while I focus on the events involving Shizuo, I also make brief allusions/summaries to any of those plots. ]
SPOILERS INSIDE: READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.
PRE-HISTORY
Despite what people may initially assume, Shizuo grew up in a warm, well-loving and caring family living in Ikebukuro, Japan. He had a mother, a father, and a younger brother, Kasuka, whom he cares for and who also cares for him. They were your typical nice family. However, it was also because of his brother that Shizuo became the highly short-tempered, anger-filled, dangerous, and extremely powerful man he is today.
Everything started when he was nine years old. He had had a minor quarrel with his brother, but in a fit of rage, he tried to lift up a full-sized refrigerator to throw at him. Of course, this didn't happen. Instead, he suffered multiple dislocations and extensive muscle damage. One would think a child would learn his lesson and never attempt to perform such actions gain, but the problem was Shizuo couldn't control his temper. Once the fuse was ignited, it was hard for him to restrain himself. Another incident of such escalated violence occurred during school when he threw a desk full of books at another student. This was the result of another student picking a fight with him and had thrown compasses at him. Fortunately the boy survived with just a scraped wrist. The desk had flown past him and had embedded itself into the wall behind him.
He was still nine.
So how was he able to do this? It all stems back to the muscle damage he suffered from the attempted refrigerator throw. There is a natural mental limiter that the body places on the human muscle so that they aren't overused and risk damage. Usually during times of extreme crisis, however, these limiters are released. This allows for the body to perform miraculous and superhuman feats. Because of the muscle damage, however, the limiters no longer exist for Shizuo. He doesn't need to be in an extreme situation to use the full potential of his muscles.
The downside, however, is that without these limitations, he has no control over his strength when he fully taps into it. This causes his muscles to deteriorate further and strain his own heart. This is made worse by his temper. He couldn't control his own anger, and in turn the power became his anger that would continue to grow. He soon developed a mindset that he had to destroy anything that pissed him off, that it was just natural. So he started to go down this spiral where he no longer placed any self-restraints and allowed the self-destruction. As time would go on, however, he would try and restrain himself somewhat. Particularly after a certain incident involving him losing control while trying to help a woman who had given both him and Kasuka some milk. Not only did he accidentally get her hurt in the fray, he also caused her trouble. Since then, he drank milk (which would help his bones) and it served as a reminder for him, a tactic Kasuka used when they were still living together at home.
He attended the same middle school and high school (Raijin Academy) as Orihaya Izaya, Kishitani Shinra, and Kadota Kyouhei. Shinra would follow Shizuo around like a puppy, thinking his extraordinary superhuman strength was amazing and wanting to learn more. He was also the reason how Shizuo first met Celty, the Headless Rider.
It was during this time he first met Tom and acquired his "delinquent" look. In short, Tom had stumbled upon Shizuo when he was still in the middle school. Gangs were still picking fights with him, and Tom came in just in time to catch the tail end of a particular fight. After convincing Shizuo to help bring the fallen to the hospital, Tom treated Shizuo to a meal. It was there that he suggested Shizuo should portray himself like a delinquent so as to lower the number of people who would come after him. This included the hair dying, but Shizuo refused, saying he could change the hair color his parents gave him. From then, Tom continued to give Shizuo some advice to help him not get picked on by gangs so much.
A month or so later, Shizuo was napping on top of the school building when he overheard a conversation between Tom and some of the upperclassmen. They were essentially trying to get Tom make Shizuo like their own dog, but true to his nature, Tom refused. After he left, the students started to make threats to take Tom hostage to make Shizuo join their side. Unfortunately, they didn't know Shizuo was listening in until they heard a strange hissing sound behind him. Shizuo had detached one of the water tanks and after yelling at them, kicked it down at them.
A few months after that, that same group targeted Tom. Shizuo arrived on the scene just as Tom finished beating them up, though he was rather injured himself. When Shizuo asked him why he didn't just use him like the others wanted, Tom just said that Shizuo had said himself he didn't like violence and that it would be better if he didn't fight. After that, Shizuo started to dye his hair and after the rumors spread, he had a peaceful period in his life as not as many people came to pick fights with him.
But of all the people he had met during his school years, it was Izaya who would have the most impact on his life. He was the one who ruin his peaceful life. While Shizuo would not start any fights or conflicts, he usually found himself caught up in them. This was usually Izaya's fault. Upon first seeing Izaya's face, Shizuo immediately disliked him, and the two would have constant fights and chases. Mostly chases as Izaya tended to just run away laughing. At some point in high school, Izaya had started to gather "worshipers" for his own purposes. These were usually girls, and soon there was a conflict between the various Izaya fans from other Ikebukuro high schools. Despite not wanting to have anything to do with the conflicts, Shizuo got dragged into the very center of it and rose to local fame because of it. Gangs and bullies would continually try to fight him, only to be defeated with explosive results. He would later become known as a contender, if not the person, to be the strongest fighter in Ikebukuro.
These years were known as the "Izaya and Shizuo" years, and Raijin Academy's reputation deteriorated until it would later merge with another school to become Raira Academy years later.
Of course, this would not be the end of Izaya and Shizuo. When Izaya became wanted by the Ikebukuro police, he framed Shizuo for co-commiting the crime. When the police attempted to arrest Shizuo, he threw a vending machine at the police car. He was later cleared of all charges after investigations.
He was under eighteen.
After that, he chased after Izaya with only one intent in mind: to kill him. He learned parkour just so he could catch Izaya, as the young man had also learned parkour to escape Shizuo. Whenever Shizuo even caught a glimpse of Izaya's face, he would grab the nearest large object and hurl it at him before running after him.
At one point, Shizuo was also scouted to be a model. He had the looks for it, however he had no inclination of becoming one. In fact, he almost killed the talent scout, but his brother, Kasuka, saved the poor, unfortunate fellow. This actually landed Kasuka a spot in the modeling business, and he would later become an actor.
Shizuo was also the reason why one of the colored gangs, the Blue Squares, disintegrated. They picked a fight with him and effectively lost. He would later join the Dollars group, a growing "colorless" gang that was rising through Ikebukuro, through an invitation by Simon.
He did attempt to a hold a job, but they normally didn't last long mostly due to his temper. Before his current job, he was a bartender. Even though Kasuka gave him twenty bartender suits in hopes he would actually keep it, Shizuo was framed by Izaya yet again, and it cost him his job. Currently he works under Tanaka Tom as a debt collector for dating sites. More specifically, as a bodyguard. Unlike his previous bosses, Tom actually knows how to handle Shizuo and Tom also had been an upperclassman, so the two at least knew each other. Tom also didn't "mind" Shizuo beating up the clients, just so long he didn't kill them. It was costly, though, and the business somehow put up with Shizuo's destructive tendencies. (Probably because despite destroying everything, he would also be able to get the money out of them)
VOLUMES 1-3 / ANIME [time zero]
Shizuo's first major appearance in the current canon timeline was a run-in with Izaya. Izaya was talking to Ryuugamine Mikado, Kida Masaomi, and Sonohara Anri. When he saw Izaya, he threw a trashcan at him, nailing him in the head. At this point in time, a gang who claimed themselves to part of the Dollars had gathered around because they wanted to get back at Izaya for a prior incident. One of them had the misfortune to attack Shizuo even though he knew who Shizuo was. Shizuo beat them up, and as Izaya tried to escape, attempted to hurl a vending machine at him. But then Simon dropped in to intervene and stop them (when I say "dropped in", I mean that literally. Simon just appeared out of nowhere from a nearby building several stories up). Though Izaya was able to get away, Shizuo beat up Simon before finally leaving.
Other than his brother, there are only a few people who are "close" to him, and the Headless Rider, Celty Sturluson, is probably the one he's closest to. She is also one of the few he considers important. Even if she didn't have a head, she could still communicate through written means, or her PDA in the modern times. But even so, she would always listen to whatever he had to say and would not make unnecessary comments or take what he said as more than what they were supposed to mean. He knew everyone was afraid of him, but Celty wasn't. So he enjoyed talking with her whenever the chance arose. He knew who she was (but not that she's a Dullahan; all he knows is that she's the Headless Rider), but he didn't particularly care.
Because of this close affinity to her, he was always more than willing to help her. When she came to him asking if he knew a street artist who supposedly had drawn pictures of a Dullahan, he not only told her where the artist was, but also offered to come along and help, saying it would be easier than her just trying to communicate with the PDA all the time.
Another time he helps her out is when they see a girl with what Celty identified as her head. Of course, Shizuo had no idea the truth about Celty's reaction to chase her, but he follows and helps out anyway. When Seiji appears and stabs him with pens, he holds the guy back, telling Celty to leave everything to him and chase the girl. Though he has no idea what's going on, he knows Celty is interested in that person, and that's all that mattered. He let Seiji off pretty lightly, knocking him out with a headbutt.
Shizuo also showed up at the giant Dollar's "meeting", confirming that he was indeed part of the Dollars, and witnessed Celty's crazy ride down a building. Again, he doesn't know that she's a Dullahan.
By this time, the "Slashers" and events with Saika were becoming more prominent in Ikebukuro, and he became a central figure in the plot. He would feel as if someone was watching him, but whenever he turned around to look in the direction, whatever it was disappears. When Celty told him that she had been attacked by one before, he immediately decided to kill the Slasher and even hopped on Celty's bike, telling her to go so he can do exactly as he said. Fortunately, Celty talked him out of it since he was still on working time, so he resigned to her wishes. That didn't mean he wasn't still mad about the whole affair.
Some time later, Shizuo was with Celty, again wanting to kill the Slasher, when the two saw some members of the Yellow Scarves staring at them. Already in a "not good" mood, Shizuo walked over and promptly beat them up for staring at them. Afterward, while riding around through the streets, Celty heard a commotion and promptly turned to where Anri and the van gang (Kadota and the others) were. Niekawa Shuuji, a reporter who had tried to (and got thrown for) interviewing Shizuo had been possessed by the demon blade Saika and was trying to stab her. Though the van gang had hit him with the van, he still managed to get up and made for a round two. Celty landed a hit with her motorcycle, but it wasn't until Shizuo ripped off Togusa's van door and slammed it into Shuuji that it was over.
After that, Shizuo went to Izaya's apartment to call him out to "play". And by play, he meant "Let me smash your face into the wall and kill you, you flea" play. As the two were about to fight, handguard rail poised and ready, Celty arrived to show Shizuo the chatroom where someone under the username "Saika" kept asking for Shizuo. She then took him to South Ikebukuro Park, where the two found themselves surrounded by over a hundred "children" of Saika. They were people who were being controlled by the demon blade Saika and all were proclaiming their "love" for Shizuo, the one who was determined to the strongest man alive. And to show their love, they wanted to stab him.
So after that lovely confession, Shizuo proceeded to beat the crap out of everyone. Miraculously, no one died, and he actually managed to stop himself in time from continued the pummeling once the Saika's "hold" over the people was released. He could never control his strength, so being able to stop in time was important to himself.
Now for a prime example of synchronicity. All is fine for a day or so, but at some point during the later afternoon-early evening, Anri was being chased by the Yellow Scarves, and the Dollars were just flying all over the place helping her. She eventually wound up in a park, and was confronted by a group led by Horada, a person of brief "significance". Upon noticing her well-endowed chest, Horada got a nosebleed. At that very moment, Shizuo was passing by, yelling at his cellphone because of all the notifications from the Dollars members. So when he turned and saw Horada staring at him with that face, it was no surprise that Horada was sent flying and the rest scattered. Shizuo was the endnote for the slew of convoluted events of the day, a pattern that tends to recur throughout the series. Celty, as well as the van gang, showed up just in time for the show, and once the deed was done, Shizuo left, saying he was turning off his cellphone for the rest of the night.
However, later that night, Horada confronted him and actually shot him in the leg and abdomen. There is some slight difference in the details of the events in the anime. There, Shizuo is by himself, but in the novel, Tom is with him. Either way, Horada left while saying that someone named "Kida Masaomi" was the one who ordered Shizuo to be shot. Apparently Shizuo didn't even realize he had been shot. He thought he had tripped and fallen, so by the time he came to again, they were gone. Again, some discrepancies between anime and novel: in the novel, Tom tells Shizuo to go to a doctor, but in the anime, since Tom isn't there, Shizuo goes on his own.
So Shizuo went to Shinra's to be treated. As always, unlike normal people who would be unconscious during the whole procedure, Shizuo stayed conscious and grumbled about the whole situation. At some point Anri had arrived, though he didn't remember who she was. But when she heard him talking about killing Kida Masaomi, she took off right after Shizuo left.
And then Shizuo once again pulled off the finale stunt for a rather large, crazy event. There was a lot of crap going on between the Dollars and the Yellow Turbans, with Horada being the one to help instigate the whole thing. But anyway, after the fight and them losing, Horada and his crew fled the scene. To their horror, waiting on the highway with an uprooted highway street exit sign was the one and only Heiwajima Shizuo. He promptly sliced the roof of the car off as they flew past, and they were taken in by the traffic cop, Kinnosuke.
One would assume things would settle down, and for a year it was relatively quiet. But of course, this would not last.
VOLUME 4. [approximately a year later, or at least several months]
After the novel introduction about the "Killing Machine" (Russian assassin) and "Hollywood", a "rising" serial killer, the scene opens up with the two fighters facing each other off. In this very scene, Tom and Shizuo were actually eating on a nearby bench when the "Killing Machine" and "Hollywood" started to fight nearby. The duo didn't really pay much attention to them.
Until the assassin took Tom's attaché case.
Shizuo promptly ripped up the very park bench the duo had been sitting on and slammed it into BOTH "Hollywood" and the "Killing Machine". "Hollywood" was sent flying out of the park (literally) and the "Killing Machine" was slammed to the ground. Fortunately, Tom stopped him from delivering the final blow to the "Killing Machine", and after a short exchange, Shizuo calmly jogged out to see if the nearby supermarket had any attaché cases.
So two lessons the two killers learned that night: robbing is no-no and don't mess with the strange man in a bartender suit.
Shizuo had purchased a new attaché case for Tom, and the two were continuing on their way when one of Izaya’s twin sisters, Mairu, literally jumped on his back in greeting. Much to Tom’s surprise, Shizuo just gently pulled her off his back, holding her up by the nape of her collar. They were asking for directions to the Russian sushi bar for, ironically, the very man Shizuo had just beaten up: the "Killing Machine". Prior to meeting Shizuo, the twins happened upon the man. However, since the twins never said why they were going there, Shizuo had no idea and carefully gave them the directions. During this time, the topic of his brother came up, and the scene ended with Shizuo thinking that a call from him once in a while wouldn’t be bad.
Incidentally, Shizuo is the reason why Kasuka meets "Hollywood." Remember when he slammed that park bench and sent the killer flying? She landed on the very road Kasuka was driving on (ironically, in some attempt to see if he could find his brother). Just yet another prime example of synchronicity.
This may not seem important to note, but it actually will make sense in the Volume 5 section. There are a lot of various circumstances that can't all be explained here, but that following night, the majority of the Durarara!! cast were entangled in the most ridiculous motorcycle/car chase that involved a few different gangs and the traffic police. Tom and Shizuo were not part of the actual chase, but some members of the involved gangs later came up to the duo and actually tried to hit Tom. Though Tom managed to dodge the attack, the pipe tore the sleeve of Shizuo's bartender suit. So in a fit of anger because those clothes are the most precious gifts his brother ever gave him, Shizuo literally sent them flying in return.
VOLUME 5 [one month later]
At a hamburger stand, Tom witnessed the commotion brought up by a new character: Rokujou Chikage. He told Shizuo he should be careful because Chikage was the leader of the Toramaru motorbike gang and is probably out to avenge his guys. But to Tom's surprise, Shizuo had actually already met the young man the previous night.
Chikage had come up to Shizuo, basically challenging him to a fight to see how strong he was. Shizuo didn't fly off the handle because Chikage had been direct and straightforward about it. While Shizuo was talking and was about tell him something, Chikage had already taken the opportunity and delivered a near impossible hard kick to Shizuo's face, followed by a punch. However, much to his surprise, all it did was move Shizuo's face a fraction of an inch. He probably didn't even feel much of it, if at all.
What Shizuo was trying to tell Chikage was all he wanted was to spend the rest of his days in peace. So without further ado, and bidding the man "Good night" (in a way), Shizuo just punched Chikage square in the face. He told Tom it took four punches before Chikage was actually knocked out. Here Shizuo briefly referenced someone else who was just as strong, and in all likelihood it was Nile from Baccano!. Afterward, he took Chikage to Shinra.
While the two were talking about Shizuo's love life -- or rather, the lack of one and Tom trying to encourage him to try and find a girlfriend -- Tom noticed a little girl staring at them through the window. More specifically, at Shizuo. Even more specifically, her whole face was pressed up against it.
Wondering who she was and what she wanted, Shizuo walked outside. Immediately the girl started to run toward him, which only made the man even more confused. He was starting to get a bad feeling about the girl, and was proven right when she suddenly yelled "Die!" and jabbed a stun gun right into Shizuo's abdomen. While this would send any normal person to the ground, or possibly killed as apparently it was modified to increase the strength, all it did was just send the electric shocks through Shizuo's body and make him feel pain. He did feel it, and it hurt, but other than that he was fine enough to push her away.
While the girl was crouching on the ground, Shizuo had picked up the stun gun, wondering what it was at first. Unfortunately, this made one hell of a misunderstanding scene, so under Tom's orders, they bolted. But at some point along the way, the girl had managed to latch onto Shizuo's back.
After some quick deliberation, Shizuo took both the girl and Tom to Shinra's to hide, much to the doctor's displeasure. She ended up having a fever, and the trio talked while she slept. Or rather, Shinra prattled along trying to figure out who the girl was and why she wanted Shizuo dead.
The next morning, after Celty had brought Anri to the apartment due to unrelated events that would later become related, the girl woke up. When Shizuo entered the room, she immediately went to the corner and asked if she was going to be killed, too. After a comment from Shinra, Shizuo asked him if he would like to be the first kill on his record, suggesting that while Shizuo had been in countless fights and had sent most if not all of his opponents to the hospital, he had never killed anyone.
Shinra managed to coax (though somewhat sickeningly in Shizuo's opinion) some information about the girl. Though she didn't tell them her last name, they learned her first name was Akane. In truth, she was Akane Awakusu, granddaughter of the leader a large mob organization called the Awakusu-kai. But no one knew of this yet. When asked why she wanted to attack Shizuo, Akane answered it was because someone told her that Shizuo was an assassin who was going to kill her father and grandfather.
Already the room became tense as Shizuo was going through his silent "getting mad" process. Both he and Shinra had an idea of who that "someone" was, and it was confirmed after Akane responded to the question: "Izaya onii-chan."
Orihara Izaya.
When Shinra turned around to see Shizuo's reaction, he was stunned in disbelief. For lo, Shizuo's expression wasn't one of a demon about to destroy a city, but one with a very soft, smile. Shizuo told Akane that "Izaya-kun" was mistaken and that they were "friends". They just had a little fight and told her to wait there while he made up with him.
So after a wink and whistling, he left the apartment with Shizuo, leaving Shinra speechless. Tom commented on Shizuo's acting skills, to which Shizuo replied that he was going to be gone for a few days to kill Izaya.
However, after reaching Izaya's apartment, he was only greeted by a "WE'VE MOVED" sign. This of course sent Shizuo over the edge and back again, but he managed to not kick down the door and instead left. Unfortunately, this had been a ruse set up by Namie. It was Izaya's apartment, and they were still there. But Shizuo was unaware of the simple trick, so Izaya was able to live for yet another day.
So he went to the address listed on the sign. However, instead of finding Izaya, he found three corpses sprawled about the office. He was still wondering what was going on when a young man confronted him for trying to break in. But when he saw the sight, he automatically assumed Shizuo was the culprit. In the ten seconds that it took for the guy to make a phone call, Shizuo had exited the building stage window. Yes, he used the window as a means of departure. He had no idea that the building and office he had stumbled into what was the office of the Awakusu-kai. That's right, the very same organization that Akane's grandfather led.
VOLUME 6 [same day]
So the whole gang tried to get back at him, still believing Shizuo had killed the three men. Shizuo didn't really want to fight so he just used his parkour skills and climbed up a skyscraper and chilled there for a while.
He would be stuck up there for some time before some other events would send him back down, but before all that happens, he took a nap and woke up in Somarium instead.
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ANYTHING AFTER THIS POINT IS AFTER HIS CURRENT CANON POINT. I'm only noting it in here for my own personal reference should I canon update him xD